US to name 26/11 planner Mir, 7 more terrorists

After declaring a $10 million bounty on Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed, the US is set to declare 26/11 chief planner Sajid Mir alias Wasi Bhai and seven others of the outfit as global terrorists and also get them listed in the UN 1267 al Qaeda sanctions committee.

US diplomatic sources said Washington has asked New Delhi for additional information on the eight terrorists this month with reference to cases against them in India.

The US is looking for evidence to name the eight as “specially designated global terrorists” under the post-9/11 executive order 13224 of the treasury department.

Although both US and India are tightlipped, those in the list apart from Mir could be 26/11 accused Muzammil Butt alias Abu Hurera, 2008 Bangalore blast accused and Rawalpindi resident Rashid Abdullah alias Rehan and Nassar Javed alias Haji Nasir Javed, who is in-charge of the terrorist training facilities at Mansehra, Pakistan.

According to Abu Jundal, a key 26/11 handler in Indian custody, Mir lives with his wife and two children at Garden Villa, about 20km from Islamabad.

It was he who asked the 26/11 terrorists at Mumbai’s Nariman House to kill the women hostages by shooting them in the head.

Although the list of eight may be pared down based on the evidence collected, Mir, who was David Coleman Headley’s handler, is the priority as he heads the LeT’s anti-India operations.

Mir came to India in April 2005 on a visa, ostensibly to watch an India-Pakistan cricket match at the Ferozshah Kotla, but his real task was to conduct a reconnaissance of the Vice President's residence, the National Defence College and Raksha Bhavan in Delhi as terror targets.

He instructed Headley to conduct a reconnaissance of the 26/11 targets before the attack. Mir has travelled to Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Qatar, Syria, Thailand and Canada for LeT’s work. One of his brothers lives in Chicago.